Our friends who know us well know that when Trevor and I cook together we always have to declare a “executive chef” and a “sous chef.” This way we know who is in charge, and who is helping. (It has actually worked out very well, highly recommended.)

Baking is a whole other world though. The reason being that a) I don’t bake often and b) I tend to take too many liberties with the recipe. These are the reasons why when I told Trevor I wanted to make these muffins this morning using our dried figs from our fig tree, and the honey from my godmother’s bee’s he said he would (graciously) help me.

I measured the dry ingredients, and he measured the wet. I worked on the cheese mixture, and accidentally added all of the vanilla from this Eating Well inspired recipe. (We actually like it better this way though.) Trevor folded in the wet to the dry ingredients and came up with the idea of adding in walnuts, which was clutch.

Yes, this is cheesy story, and yes these muffins were baked with lots of love. But come on, we have just 90 days until our wedding -anything to keep the dreaded planning at bay!

Who knew muffins could include such random but delicious ingredients? Why not put something better in there besides some super solid mystery fat and other big words we probably can’t pronounce? Bananas, cranberries, oatmeal, and carrots make a surprisingly fantastic muffin. So I cheated and bought the bag of shredded carrots and this suited my needs just fine. If you are looking for more of a carrot cake consistency (hidden carrots) then you’ll need to shred them with the box grater yourself. These taste just delightful toasted and with a little butter or jam on it. Perfect for breakfast or snack! NOM.

Breakfast Cranberry Carrot Muffins

Makes: 12 Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup dried cranberries

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large egg

1/3 cup 1% milk (or milk of choice)

2 cups shredded carrots (chop a little extra with a knife if using bagged carrots)

2 medium ripe bananas, mashed

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 and spray or line a 12 tin muffin pan.

n a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Sift well or mix with a fork until combined.

Next add the oats, cranberries, olive oil, egg, milk, carrots, and mashed banana. Stir well until all ingredients are blended.

Divide the batter evenly in the muffin tin and bake for 15-18 minutes until cooked through.